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I have bought about 10 copies of this book and given it as presents to people. I grew up in South Africa and she is so honest about growing up there and her experiences. I feel it is a very true book and also gives a view of the history around the time of the end of UDI and Mugabe coming into power. It is a fascinating insight into living in Africa. I just absolutely loved it and she evokes all the sensory impressions of living in Africa.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this gritty account of life in southern Africa. Her fast paced take on growing up with such unusual parents, people so human and real, makes this account genuinely fascinating. I didn't want it to end. Reading this makes you want to experience this part of Africa for yourself and that is always the best you can say of any book.

Pleasant enough reading towards the end, but for the first half the racism was off putting. I realise the author is reflecting a particular time, but some sense that she had reflected on that (and I hope altered her views) would have been appreciated.

Alexandra Fuller takes us back during the years 1972 to 1990 into the life that she led as a child in Southern and Central Africa. Her words are painful and hilarious, but always ring truthful. The story of her very determined parents and the struggle the entire family experienced is amazing. These parents are not the hand holding gentle souls who canï¿½t bear to worry their children, they are blunt and strong and serve as examples of people who are surviving in a very difficult life and often-brutal country. The family lived on several farms trying to make a living on inhospitable land where guerrilla fighters were lurking in the bushes and camping on the farmland during the nights. The truth was they loved Africa, and were determined to stay there.During all of the years of civil unrest, her father was often away serving as a soldier for the government. Her mother was a very emotional, but strong woman who tried her best to hold on even when she saw her children die and she had to continue to run the farm alone while her husband was out fighting. Everyone carried guns and the children were taught how to load a gun as soon as they were agile enough to do it.Alexandra, called Bobo by her family gives us this remembrance that she had from the age of three. ï¿½Mum says, ï¿½Donï¿½t come creeping into our room at night.ï¿½ They sleep with loaded guns beside them on the bedside rugs. She says, ï¿½Donï¿½t startle us when weï¿½re sleeping.ï¿½ ï¿½We might shoot you.ï¿½ ï¿½Oh.ï¿½ ï¿½ By mistake.ï¿½ ï¿½Okay, I wonï¿½t.ï¿½ replied Bobo.I didnï¿½t want this story to end and hope that the author writes another book and gives us an update on her remarkable family.

I picked this book up because one of my favorite pop culture magazines had named it the best non-fiction book of the year at some point. Still, I must admit that I did not expect it to be quite so good. I was absolutely absorbed in this book and practically lived in it for the few days it took me to finish it - and I certainly drew them out as long as I could because I did not want it to end!Alexandra Fuller recounts her experiences growing up in various African countries, part of the white colonialist presence in Rhodesia and other countries. Her family endures more than its share of hardships, and Ms. Fuller conveys them honestly, touchingly and in great detail. She does not shy away from some of the less flattering aspects of her parents' participation in a colonialist culture, nor does she pretend that they were free from any sort of prejudice toward the Africans with whom they lived. Yet Ms. Fuller does explain much of it - why her parents chose Africa and Rhodesia, Malawi and so forth, why she viewed the natives as she did, what she and her sister feared, and so on and so forth.While this frankness is refreshing, what makes this book so excellent is Ms. Fuller's writing, which is simply brilliant. She describes the lush landscapes, the danger of mines, the violence, the poverty and so on with such intense and vivid details that the book truly comes to life. Her experiences growing up in Africa may have been in some ways similar to those of other colonialists, yet she makes her story unique through her insights, her sympathy and empathy, and through the changes that she describes - those of the countries in which she lives, herself, her mother, father, sister and others. That Ms. Fuller's possess an incredible gift for writing is obvious, as is her command of language, with every word and phrase clearly chosen with great care.I could not recommend this book more highly. I really believe that it is one of the best that I have ever read and certainly one of the best in the past several years. Already I have begun lending it out, and those who have read it have shared my fascination. Simply put, it is not to mbe missed!